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(02/15/17 8:44pm)
Following the release of their stellar eponymous EP, the Bloomington boys from Hoops have done it again: Their debut studio album Routines will be out May 5th via Fat Possum. You can find the album's tracklisting as well as their tour information below. The band also released a single, "Rules," which is laden with sweet, shimmering guitarwork and melodies. Check it out:
Routines Track Listing:
1. Sun's Out
2. Rules
3. On Top
4. Benjals
5. Burden
6. On Letting Go
7. The Way Luv Is
8. Management
9. All My Life
10. Underwater Theme
11. Worry
Tour:
North American Dates in BOLD
2/18 - Norman, OK @ The Opolis
2/21 - Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom *
2/22 - San Diego, CA @ The Irenic *
2/24 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy Theatre *
2/25 - San Francisco, CA @ Noise Pop Music Festival *
2/27 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom *
2/28 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos *
3/01 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret *
3/03 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room *
3/04 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater *
3/09 - Nashville, TN @ Freakin Weekend at The End
3/10 - Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover Music Festival
3/12-18 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
5/02 - Glasgow, UK @ The Hug and Pint
5/03 - Leeds, UK @ Headrow House
5/04 - Manchester, UK @ Soup Kitchen
5/07 - Birmingham, UK Hare & Hounds
5/08 - Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana
5/09 - Brighton, UK @ Green Door Store
5/10 - London, UK @ The Lexington
5/12 - 14 - Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Music Festival
5/24 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo ^
5/26 - 28 - George, WA @ Sasquatch Music Festival
6/08 - Brooklyn, NY @ Baby's All Right +
* w/ Tennis
^ w/ PARTS
+ w/ Joy Again
Check out WIUX's Living Room Session with Hoops from last year:
(02/06/17 3:07am)
Local Americana extraordinaire Chris Dollar joins WIUX for the debut of our brand new Artist Showcase!
In order to highlight the amazing community of local musicians Bloomington has to offer, giving them a platform and giving our listeners a weekly dose of great new music, we've created this specialty program. Artists have the opportunity to perform live in the 99.1 FM studio, or curate a playlist of their releases and inspirations. We also spend the hour interviewing the artist and getting to know a little bit more about what makes them tick.
For our first episode, we're delighted to have guitarist, banjoist, and singer-songwriter Chris Dollar, who played some fantastic tunes and talked about his background and love for bluegrass, John Hartford, and the inspirations behind his music. Dollar has been a touring musician since 2009, and has toured as a member of The New Old Cavalry. His solo work includes originals as well as songs from his previous endeavors.
Artist Showcases air live on Fridays at 6:00 pm on 99.1 FM. You can also hear them re-broadcasted on B-Side, Sundays at 2:00 pm.
(11/11/16 11:54pm)
From the diaphragm of Alex Jones, the man that captivated the country with enough conspiracy theories to make Hillary Clinton create a Trump attack ad featuring them, we bring you a carefully scrutinized compilation that demonstrates the power of his voice, metaphorically and physically. It’s highly recommended that you make sure your listening device is set to play audio via ‘stereo’ as opposed to ‘mono’, and also that you’re using the highest quality headphones you can acquire. Without being snobbish, we cannot overstress the importance of the depth of your auditory experience with these lush soundscapes. While his sounds are flawless on their own, they can only be enhanced by the numerous effects that the audio editing program Audacity has to offer, especially when liberally applied. After gorging yourself on these succulent, heavily-processed cuts, we recommend clearing your pallet by guzzling down some of this herbal supplement drink he sells on his website, which “provides up to 77 minerals from prehistoric plants in their unaltered colloidal form, in a great tasting liquid supplement that kids will love!”.
1.
[audio mp3="https://wiux.indiana.edu/wiux.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/AHH.mp3"][/audio]
Score: 4/7
The signature Alex Jones scream is also his mating call, which can attract possible companions up to a 50-mile radius. It also works on anyone listening through headphones, like me. I cannot deny the raw power these primitive vibrations possess, as I have found myself getting butterflies in my stomach multiple times during listening and post-processing. This is the irresistible sound of a man who could eat an entire cow bite-by-bite and then use the horns as a toothpick. Alex, if you are reading this, please slide into my DMs. I will stop drinking water with fluoride for you if that is what it takes. I will be your Lady Liberty for a night. I don’t even have to mention the fact that this sound was edited and looped over and over again purely for my enjoyment, but I will anyway. Thank you, Audacity.
2.
[audio wav="https://wiux.indiana.edu/wiux.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Alex-Jones-is-Cummin.wav"][/audio]
Score: 5/7
The sheer force and bass presence of this sound is simultaneously fascinating and terrifying. The word sounds as if it is meant to evoke something primal within Mankind. It envelops you, surrounds you in the pulsating, bulbous mass that is his neck and propels you into the heavens, much like the same way “CUMMIN’” explodes out of his mouth. This cavernous power is amplified further when the sound is pitched down, burning Jones’ register into my wet dreams for eternity.
3.
[audio wav="https://wiux.indiana.edu/wiux.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Alex-Jones-wants-to-murder-africa.wav"][/audio]
Score: 2/7
There’s a lot to digest here. What I think is most impressive about this is how clean and crisp each movement of his throat and vocal cords is. He rasps and gargles constantly, and you’re able to hear air pockets entering and leaving the mixture of mucus and saliva coating his throat. Concluding the piece is a half squawk of pleasure, half startled yelp- as if he was finally able to expel a large mass of flesh from some cavity. When we add a bit of Audacity’s default “wah wah” effect it sounds more like he has been wounded in the lung by some enormous predator, and has no choice but to cry and gasp for breath with his torn lungs. Another win from Audacity.
4.
[audio wav="https://wiux.indiana.edu/wiux.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/the-goddess-that-is-the-west.wav"][/audio]
Score: 6/7
Jones is again displaying masterful oratory brilliance with this tirade. It is expertly crafted; the opening lines feature complex dynamic shifts and pauses that leave your heart pounding. It all leads up to a hurried apology about being “sweaty and pissed” and a truly gorgeous, guttural display of grunts and croaks. Audacity was a boon here; for your enjoyment we’ve slowed them down towards the end of the track so you can ride with Jones as he cruises effortlessly through the various slimy flaps lining his insides, and join in the lamentation for the Goddess That Is The West.
5.
[audio mp3="https://wiux.indiana.edu/wiux.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Destroy-everything.mp3"][/audio]
Score: 7/7
Hey Alex, me again. I’m still entranced by your sweet siren song of death and destruction, and it sounds even better pitched up and down with Audacity. Man, what a voice. If scientists in a remote facility in Nevada managed to splice the DNA of a lion and a frog, but still make the offspring appear human, you would share its voice. You would also make a video on this facility, because that’s how you earn an income and stay moderately relevant. That was harsh. I am sorry, Mr. Jones. I want you to throw me onto an American flag and yell into my ear for 20 minutes straight. The real “Info War” is how hard I am going to fight to get your contact info. Seriously, text me any time. I will fly to you just to hear that hypnotic gargle you so expertly do. Alex Jones is a real man, and he sounds even better with a dozen different Audacity effects applied to that sweet instrument he calls a throat.
Overall Alex Jones Rating: 6.3/7
(09/14/16 11:40pm)
FLANCH's debut self-titled album, released this past February on Darling Recordings, and it's a force to be reckoned with. Producers Peter Timberlake and Ben Peterson venture into the depths of harsh, glitchy textures, experimental hip-hop and organic, heavyset rhythms (Not unlike Arca) and emerge with some really powerful musical statements. Thematically, the album deals with the internet, religion, and the intertwining of those two. It also features a lot of features and collaboration with other up-and-coming Indiana artists, including rapper Sirius Blvck, Devin Dabney, and fellow Darling Recordings member Stone Irr. Some of these collaborators will be joining the group for their live debut right here in Bloomington at The Bishop this Friday, alongside acclaimed Gary footwork producer Jlin (Planet Mu). In anticipation of what's sure to be a must-see show, Timberlake and Peterson answered some questions:
Q: How did FLANCH come to be?
In a manner of speaking, FLANCH began when we met in the first like 4 days of music school. We’ve really been doing projects ever since then. But we started making music under that name about this time last year, it began with a long free-flowing demo, and a general spirit of doing things just for the hell of it, and trying to make something really weird.
Q: Could you talk about how either or both of your experiences with religion contributed to any or all of the tracks on the album?
Yeah, religion sort of influences every aspect of my personality, especially music. Tbh, I have experience with a lot of diverse music, but the majority of my (Peter's) musical experience is with Christian worship music, pretty early in my life. I was sort of paraded around (consensually, to use a poetic term) by Christians who thought my Christian worship band was some combination of cute and good. There’s no question that that kind of adolescence could potentially fuck you up.
Q: Who would you cite as your biggest influences sonically, and what do you think those artists "gave" to your album or style?
Our music sounds like Arca’s music, yeah. But I hope it also sounds at times like Chris Tomlin, or David Crowder. I think Jesse Kanda was also perhaps a greater influence than Arca.
Q: What software do you use to produce, and what are your favorite plugins?
We used Logic 9 to make this one. Iris 2 played a role. Really though, with experimental electronic music, I don’t care about skill with using the technology as much as your skill with misusing it, or using tools in ways they weren’t designed to be made. I really love the idea of going the extra mile to break a plugin. That is, btw, the story of the TB303, a shitty guitar-accompaniment bass synth that inadvertently created techno.
Q: Tell me about your collaborative process with other artists. Do you write with your vocalist or feature present, or do you have them contribute to an already standing idea?
With Devin…. Sirius too, we just gave him really developed tracks, and he just ran with them. Devin somehow thrives in a really tight aesthetic space, so we were able to describe with a lot of detail what we were going for, and he generated a ton of stuff that was pretty much 100%-on-the-money and what we were trying to do. When we got his stuff back, we tried to be really sensitive to the flow of what he was doing, and adapt our arrangements to him. For the singers, we wrote the lyrics and they sang them (beautifully).
Q: From the cover art as well as the way you guys process the vocals featured throughout your album, it seems like you have an interest in digital distortion of the human form. Could you elaborate on how this concept is important to your album?
Yeah, I think with every good idea, its essential to have it *feel* right, even if you can’t explain it. It’s like when Stravinsky was writing the Rite of Spring, there is this really primal sounding section - he knew how it needed to sound, but had no idea how to notate it, or explain it in the written language that other musicians could understand. I’m not trying to liken myself to Stravinsky, but with the altered vocals, the cover art, the whole general thing, it just felt like it had meaning before any explanation could be made about it. But I think there might be some kind of hidden truth in there, who knows, more likely, it just looks cool.
Check out the music video for "pretty girl":
You can catch FLANCH alongside Sirius Blvck opening for Jlin this Friday at The Bishop via Winspear. Doors open at 8:30 pm. Get tickets here.
(07/25/16 8:40pm)
This promises to be a bit of a unicorn in terms of Bloomington shows. Gary, Indiana producer Jlin (Jerrilynn Patton)'s masterful debut release Dark Energy was met with near universal praise last year. A dark, tense, and compellingly ambitious album with roots in the Chicago footwork scene, she's asserted herself as among the most forward-thinking producers around right now. Fresh off playing last weekend's Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, Jlin will be coming down to Bloomington this September the 16th to deliver what's sure to be a show you don't want to miss. Check out the video she did for the second track off of Dark Energy, "Unknown Tongues":
If that wasn't enough, opening up for Jlin will be Indianapolis's FLANCH. This project, consisting of the duo Peter Timberlake and Ben Peterson, released their debut self-titled release back in February. Their music brings to mind Arca and Oneohtrix Point Never's wildest moments, while also being very lyrical, blending these textures with great vocal features.
This electronic dream is going down at The Bishop on September 16th via Winspear. Tickets go on sale July 29th and can be found here.
(06/29/16 9:26pm)
Hometown heroes Hoops just announced the release of their debut, self-titled EP, out August 26th via Fat Possum (Spiritualized, Youth Lagoon, Sunflower Bean). Boasting a dreamy, lo-fi sound somewhere between Real Estate, Prefab Sprout and Ariel Pink, their music is perfect for the vast expanses of summer afternoons.
Check out their first single, "Cool 2," from this exciting release, which was completely self-produced:
Check out the living room session WIUX did with them back in February:
Hoops is Drew Auscherman, Kevin Krauter, Keagan Beresford, and James Harris. Catch them here in Bloomington on August 24th at The Bishop with The Pills and Nice Try. Get Tickets:
(06/28/16 3:25pm)
WIUX will be covering Pitchfork Music Festival again this year, and in anticipation of this year's phenomenal lineup, (Which includes Sufjan Stevens, Neon Indian, and even the Sun Ra Arkestra) we've concocted this playlist. Pitchfork Music Festival is in Chicago from July 15-17. You can get tickets here.
(05/05/16 12:34am)
Summer is here, and as always the WIUX Blog Squad is here to celebrate with you. We hand-crafted this playlist with tunes we thought really illustrate the beauty of this season:
"The opening track on arguably the National's most underappreciated album, "Secret Meeting" has an underwater feel to it that befits the narrator's psychological state."
"Seriously just listen to this song, good times all around."
"Nothing says summer like gardening on a hot day and having an allergic reaction so severe your neighbors call an ambulance! "Avant Gardener", as clever as its title, really showcases Barnett's gift for stream-of-consciousness songwriting."
"I love this song because it's upbeat and wistful. It's sad and optimistic. It's two things at once. <3"
"'I Love Bitches' by Lil B is an extremely rare track that always lifts my spirits and gets me looking forward to the summer."
"A sanguine song about a memory of a lover, 'Do You Remember' is my go-to song for long car rides to the beach."
"A bouncy, perhaps contemplative track that impeccably soundtracks a trip to the Marathon to purchase an ice cold Arizona Green Tea."
"A summer road trip with a bunch of buds with no planned destination."
"New release. Super cool King Krule sample, with some tasty rhymes thrown on top."
"In this tune Maxo encapsulates the pure, innocent idea of summer to a child who just got off of school. Sweet and melodic while simultaneously anxious and rhythmically intricate, this tune is a hyper-pop anthem worthy of PC music and a venetian snares-esque journey into breakbeat all at once."
Have a great summer, guys.
(03/06/16 6:29pm)
Via 0001
5/7
When Yung Lean dropped the video for “Hoover” way back in November, he set expectations for his second studio album way high. The video was fantastic and the song really slapped. Production-wise it marked a heavy departure for Lean, owing more to the more frenzied sounds not dissimilar to that of say, Arca. And to the album’s credit, in this respect it more than delivers. Compared to Lean’s previous releases there’s more of an emphasis on harsher bass and trap-influenced percussion, making nods to artists like Travis $cott and Future. As usual, though, Lean’s Sadboy crew (Yung Gud and Yung Sherman) do a stellar job of producing the kinds of atmospheric environments that he swims around in so well. They have a knack for finding sounds and synths that audibly “wail” or cry, which is essential to the sadboy sound. There tends to be an emphasis on synths as opposed to samples, but when those samples are employed it’s done well; the guitars in album opener “Immortal” are a good example of this. Looking at the album’s production credits, it appears that Mike Dean (producer for Kanye) did work on “Highway Patrol” as well as “More Stacks”. The beat on “More Stacks” is insane. I’m pretty sure that one of the themes to Metroid Prime for the GameCube is sampled towards the end, and it’s gorgeous. The track also features some beautiful, watery percussion.
“Hoover” is unsurprisingly a standout of the album. I can’t help but feel like I’m hanging on to some huge, spitting machine with its menacing synths and drums. Lyrically it’s one of my favorites from this album as well. “Got a lotta $#it in my bag like Santa” is one of the best lines of the year so far. Lean’s lyrics and delivery are often criticized, but usually that’s missing the point. Regardless of whatever he’s saying, it often comes across with an impressive amount of charisma. Take the hook off of “Highway Patrol”. Lean’s powerful delivery( “I don’t pay attention to these CHIL-DREEN”) and the tasteful use of auto-tune makes for a powerful statement. “AF1s” is another great example of Lean’s delivery coming in on point, with a potent hook and stellar verses. Listen to the way he comes in on his first verse. Goosebumps.
Other times, however, Lean’s vocals come across as questionable. The track “Fire”, sitting squarely in the middle of the album, is the biggest offender, though it reliably provides some chuckles. I realize that expecting impassioned delivery and remarkable wordplay would be missing the entire point of Yung Lean in general, but his monotone singing, relatively annoying melody, and some really awkward lines “My money speedin' no flat tire//Over on this side it is drier” make this track really difficult to enjoy. The production doesn’t do much to make up for any of these faults. The following track, “Stay Down”, continues the awkward delivery but makes up for it with a fantastic hook and smooth production.
“Warlord” is noticeably almost void of features, a quality that unfortunately doesn’t work well in its favor. Many of the tracks could use the refreshing change of pace that a guest vocalist or verse brings, and as a whole the album tends to drag on because of this. The features that are present are a mixed bag. Lil Flash from Chief Keef’s crew makes an appearance on “Fantasy” and kills it, ramping up the energy level of the track. Bladee, another rapper from Sweden associated with Yung Lean, shows up on both “Highway Patrol” (where he is forgettable) and “Hocus Pocus” (where he adds a lot). Finally, Ecco2k (another Swedish rapper) is featured on “AF1s” and provides an overall decent, but still kind of forgettable bridge considering the rest of the song is fantastic.
One thing is certainly obvious from “Warlord”: Yung Lean is interested in changing his sound. Overall this album features grittier, more powerful production and tighter hooks than his previous work. He’s also ditched a lot of his trademark references to Arizona iced tea, various Nintendo games, etc. When the “Hoover” video was released, I wasn’t just surprised by the sound, I was surprised by the aesthetic. It was a powerful statement, one that really made me wonder what kind of album would follow it. While my expectations for this LP given the video were not completely satisfied, what I had suspected turned out to be true: namely, the days of Yung Lean rapping in front of tessellating Pokemon might be over. But with this latest release, he’s proved that he’s musically still a force to be reckoned with. Maybe we’ll get a Yung Lean/Kanye collaboration, given that Mike Dean worked on this LP and that the supposedly upcoming ‘Ye album being titled “Turbo Grafx 16” almost definitely categorizes it as vaporwave. One can dream.
Songs to Check Out:
“Hoover”
“AF1s”
“More Stacks”
(11/17/15 4:36pm)
WIUX's own Sanjeev Rau caught up with Skylar Spence to talk about his very first tour, Prom King, and The Cranberries. Listen up!
(10/08/15 6:03pm)
Released: 10/2/2015
Score: 5/7
In his sophomore effort, Arthur Ashin brings a fresh set of themes and instrumental nuances while giving us more of the same of those gleaming synth lines and the oh-so-glorious delivery and presence as a vocalist. Autre Ne Veut's defining eclectic approach to structure and instrumental arrangement are as present as they have always been, if not more present; Ashin's access to new and different musical resources to add to his palette make this album stand out from what he has done in the past, with mostly positive results.
The first track is a reprise of "On and On" from his 2013 release, Anxiety. It definitely sets the tone for what's to come in the album. Ashin's voice sounds particularly raw and exposed here, and he's backed up by a small jazz ensemble. An otherwise organic style of production occasionally is interrupted by various kinds of modulations and processing and the improvising musicians in the background provide beautiful arpeggiations and dynamic shifts, responding to Ashin's voice and inflection and overall making this track all the more powerful. Thematically the album deals with how we live life so openly in the digital age, and consequently many of these tracks sonically are very open, ethereal, and feature slick production.
One of the things defining Age of Transparency is the finesse audible in every instrumental. I've always been able to appreciate how Autre Ne Veut's instrumentals are able to evolve and mutate in unconventional ways. Ashin is extroverted as a vocalist and is often complemented by the huge, shining synth pads and compressed drums reminiscent of more conventional synth pop. It's pleasantly surprising how well acoustic instruments like the double bass and an actual choir are arranged alongside those elements. Samples of chopped up vocals and even stadium rock-esque guitars also contribute to the electroacoustic concoction that this album presents to us, and the pristine-sounding production from names like Joel Ford and Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never, Ford and Lopatin) takes a dominant role in defining this album's sound.
Early in the album, "Cold Winds" is a great track, and it features huge dynamic shifts between the enormous vocal modulation that it opens up with and more subdued choral lines and hi-hats in the verse. One of the highlights of this album for me was the title track, "Age of Transparency". The arrangement of this song is absolutely gorgeous; it features both live and electronic percussion, reverb-laden atonal saxophone playing, enormous choral lines, and Ashin's voice delivering powerful and catchy melodies. "Panic Room" is another standout, featuring a wave of synths, quivering percussion, some insane pitch bending in the chorus, and of course, Ashin's impossible range.
To some, Ashin's voice can be quite divisive. His already bombastic delivery, especially evident in tracks featuring blistering falsetto like "Switch Hitter" and album closer "Get Out" is much more raw and gritty than his vocals on Anxiety. At times it can feel excessive, but ultimately the grandeur is part of what makes his sound unique and his chops as a vocalists are something to be admired, especially considering how well he is able to exercise that vocal power in the context of a composer.
Compositionally is where this album can occasionally falter. While Ashin's ability to create lush instrumental textures and match them to his voice is phenomenal, Some developments, for example the track "Get Out" towards the end feels like he is trying to stretch a composition to uncomfortable or awkward ends. "Over Now" introduces a wall of electronic white noise that feels like it was intended to be captivating and beautiful a la My Bloody Valentine or Astrobrite but ultimately fails. Ashin's very experimental nature as an arranger is what makes his best songs fantastic, but not all his compositions work this way and at times it can work against him in this sense.
Part of the appeal of Autre Ne Veut as an artist has always been how showy, grand and extroverted his compositions and voice are. The levels of finesse and perfection in how Ashin executes extremely volatile structural ideas, sonic textures and combinations (his own voice, for example) are to be lauded. In someone else's hands, it would almost definitely sound corny or ridiculous. While at times the volatility wins over and he sounds like he is overreaching, Ashin's willingness to experiment with and stretch the conventions of pop music is what make Autre Ne Veut such an amazing project.
(09/23/15 10:14pm)
Via Carpark Records
Score: 6/7
It’s very difficult to talk about The Artist Formerly Known As Saint Pepsi’s debut on Carpark Records (Speedy Ortiz, Toro y Moi, Beach House) without considering the fact that this album is the sonically the most dramatic shift in his career thus far. People who have been following Ryan DeRobertis for the last couple years have known him for mostly instrumental, sample-laden, irresistibly groovy music sitting around on bandcamp. In a sense, some of that hasn’t changed. Rather than a complete reworking of the way his music sounded previously, this album sounds like the logical next step for DeRobertis as an artist.
The building blocks of what made his earlier work great are still present; there’s the dominant presence of heavy, driving dance beats and samples of horns, strings and chopped up vocal elements (among other things) that lend themselves to the charisma and warmth that characterizes DeRobertis’s music. To this, Prom King adds slicker production; with beautifully clean, funky guitar parts reminiscent of John Frusciante or Nile Rodgers, and perhaps more significantly, DeRobertis’s own voice taking center stage. His singing voice and lyrics are as confident and sweet as someone who would name their album Prom King, though there is one notable sneak diss to what his music used to sound like on track two, “Can’t Stop” where he says “I was working, tried my hardest/slowed some music down and called myself an artist”, referring to his previous work, which would neatly fit in the category of vaporwave, a genre that heavily relies on slowed-down samples.
Regardless of whether you agree with his sentiment, that line is important; the first proper track besides the intro is DeRobertis telling us that what’s to come is different. This album is a celebration of a kind of musical metamorphosis for him and he has the confidence to back it up. It’s certainly evident on the fourth track, “I Can’t Be Your Superman” which opens with a chunky guitar riff (perhaps the chunkiest on this LP) and progresses to heavy funk bass, pumping drums and what sounds like a baritone saxophone pulsating in the background. All of this drops out to the vocals as well as some sparse drums and a classically 80’s sounding synth before blasting everything back at full force for the chorus. “Fall Harder”, sitting in the middle of the album, takes a different approach, being very melodically inclined with the guitar and vocals while subduing the drums and bass.
While lyrical and guitar-heavy tracks featuring stylistically different turns for DeRobertis take center stage in defining what Prom King is about, several tracks help to define the sound as a lot more nuanced. There’s a general trend of alternating vocal and instrumental based songs going on, and the instrumentals in arrangement are more nostalgic to his earlier work. ”Ridiculous”, “Prom King”, and “Bounce is Back” are all upbeat, funky, and sound slicker than his previous instrumental albums, though this isn’t necessarily a good thing. For me, and indeed many others, a large part of what made DeRobertis’ music so alluring was his choice of samples, and how he deployed them in a way that sounded so defiantly dated. By contrast, in Prom King these same elements seem to have been modernized to fit better with the rest of the album. However, I do really enjoy the delicate solo guitar playing at the beginning of “Bounce is Back”.
By contrast, “Cash Wednesday,” the second to last song on the album, features a generally more lo-fi production and a vocal sample chopped a la J Dilla. It’s interesting that this was placed right before “Fiona Coyne,” which was the first song released from this album, long enough ago that it was still under the Saint Pepsi moniker. We get a better sense of DeRobertis’s intentions with tracks like this one, which show that he’s not ashamed of what he’s good at; rather, he wants to change his arrangements and style to match the vision and aesthetic we know him for.
The album takes a different, more subdued turn at “Affairs”. The sounds of the 80s suffuse through the track, more specifically recalling the synth pop movement. The reverb slathered guitar and drums, combined with delicate synths and booming drum fills complement the harmonized vocal lines, which describe a relationship that couldn’t last: “We tried to get ourselves together/We built a fire, but we just couldn’t handle the flames”.
’Affairs’ is a great track, but the style of production deployed here is notably different from that featured throughout the rest of Prom King; it’s so different that it feels a bit awkward. It does, however, serve well as a transition into the next track, “All I Want,” which is the slow jam you’ve all been waiting for. A tender and sparsely arranged introduction to the song, featuring a glockenspiel, strings, and a small amount of guitar, has a very light and childlike feeling to it before the bass and drums lurch in with a fittingly huge amount of presence. The whole thing is punctuated by sampling of a particular soul singer that is played at the start of the track, giving it a kind of sentimental quality. The bridge has some fairly atypical chord movement, and as a result adds a lot to the song.
“Fiona Coyne,” the album’s closer, is an unbashful statement about loving someone and appreciating how much they mean to his life. It features an instantly catchy guitar riff and DeRobertis’s vocals which, in the chorus, are chopped up and processed in the most tasteful of ways. It’s a fittingly confident end to the statement that Prom King tries to convey. While not perfect, the album flows well when listened to in one sitting. Almost every song features something musically interesting to pay attention to while also being irresistibly catchy. If Skylar Spence is the Prom King that the title refers to, it doesn’t surprise me. In a way, it’s his senior year of high school; he is fully aware of what he’s accomplished, what he wants to do differently, and what his plans for the future are. This album is an incredibly important transition for him; you could say that Prom King is the last concert of his senior year. And, as the introduction cheekily states, “Now it’s show time.”
Skylar Spence will be bringing the prom to Bloomington in Nov. 3 at the Bishop, click here for more information.
Songs to check out:
“Can’t You See”
“I Can’t Be Your Superman”
“Cash Wednesday”